Vaccination in the refugee home: only half of those expected come

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For Nurallah Ullah it is a spade of hope: Since he lost his job in the middle of the pandemic, it has been difficult for him to get something new.

“With the vaccination, I might find a new job, a new apartment,” he says.

“I've been keeping my distance because of Corona for so long.

I'm afraid.

I am protected with a vaccination, ”says the 33-year-old, who fled to Germany from Bangladesh six years ago.

In a few minutes he will be the first in a temporary shelter for asylum seekers in Essen to be vaccinated.

As one of the few municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia so far, Essen has just started vaccinating refugees in collective accommodation with mobile teams regardless of age or previous illness - if they want.

Large rush for special vaccinations in Cologne's central mosque

Citizens can get vaccinated against the corona virus in Cologne's central mosque.

The offer has met with a great response: Long queues form in the morning.

Chief reporter Anette Dowideit is on site and reports.

Source: WORLD / Anette Dowideit

The group of residents and employees of collective accommodation for refugees is for the first time explicitly listed as a group in the country's latest vaccination decree of May 5, which is to be offered a vaccination.

Until the end of the month.

Refugee Council criticizes the late start

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From the perspective of the Refugee Council, this comes very late: Although the federal government has given people seeking protection in the collective accommodation a high priority in vaccination, they have not yet been given sufficient consideration in NRW.

"The form of accommodation in the mass accommodation alone results in a high risk of infection," says Birgit Naujoks, managing director of the NRW Refugee Council.

This has been shown time and again in large outbreaks.

Entire state institutions had to be quarantined 24 times and individual sub-areas 55 times.

In addition, there are countless infections in the homes of the cities.

“The country simply sat out the problem,” criticized Naujoks.

Even if the Essen facilities have so far been spared major outbreaks, those responsible are happy that it can finally start: "Everyone who is vaccinated is one more who protects the others," says Alina Terörde.

She heads the area of ​​integration and neighborhood work at Diakoniewerk Essen, which is responsible for the accommodation.

59 residents currently live here.

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Since Corona came to Germany, the social workers have been intensively involved in education, she says.

Communicate hygiene measures and contact rules - and now advertise the vaccination.

Refugees have the same fears as the rest of society

As in the rest of society, there is the same range of attitudes towards Corona among refugees - from people who take the disease very seriously to those who trivialize it.

At the same time, it is not always easy to dispel existing fears: "It takes a lot of trust," says Terörde.

In some countries of origin, vaccinations as such are less common.

Because many do not consume German media simply because of a lack of language skills, there is less counterbalance to false information, which sometimes spreads rapidly in social media.

The city of Essen is currently producing its own info clips, for example with Arabic-speaking doctors, in order to feed them into the chat and WhatsApp groups of the migrant communities.

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“Vaccination is voluntary.

We cannot persuade anyone, we can only convince them, ”emphasizes Bodo Kolling, who is responsible for refugee accommodation in the city's social welfare office.

Multilingual doctors have therefore given vaccination consultations in advance to explain the side effects and benefits of the vaccine.

“We emphasize that it is about protecting yourself and protecting others,” says Maike Katzewksi, the head of the refugee accommodation.

This Friday, several men and women are actually standing in front of the room in which the mobile vaccination team, consisting of multilingual doctors, is already pulling up the syringes.

“My doctor said it was good for me and my family.

So here I am, ”says a young mother from Nigeria.

It just hurt a little, she will say afterwards.

Only half of those registered then show up

However, significantly less has come than hoped. Many had immediately waved off. Of the good third who had agreed to be vaccinated the day before, only half have now shown up. What stopped her? One woman hesitated because she was breastfeeding a baby, another feared complications from his medication, and others stayed away for reasons unknown. It is also Ramadan - fasting is also an obstacle for some Muslims, explain the social workers.

The disappointment is written on the faces of those responsible for the city and the Diakoniewerk. They now want to analyze again what the reason for the reluctance to mobilize in all efforts. And don't give up. "We'll keep talking to people, we'll stay tuned," says Kolling. There will be another round, later, when the vaccinated can tell how it really was. The employees in the home also got their vaccination protection today. "Now we hope that it will help if we show that we are doing well," says Katzewski.

In any case, the newly vaccinated Nurallah Ullah wants to try to explain the advantages of a vaccination to his roommates. "Great relief and great immunity," he says, grinning broadly so that it is also visible behind the mask, and lets his yellow vaccination card with the fresh stamp disappear into his backpack.